I decided to bite the bullet and give this a go today - £33 walk up fare (with Railcard) from Newcastle to Belfast via Ayr and the ferry seemed like a nice cheap adventure!
No ticket checks until past Paisley on the whole trip - was expecting a few quizzical looks from a Belfast ticket but the one conductor who checked wasn't fussed. Everything was nicely on time too, to the extent that I managed to arrive in Edinburgh at 0912 and have a brisk walk over for the 0915 to Glasgow (which actually leaves at 0917).
It was a little confusing at Ayr - as the station is still rather all over the place due to the saga with the old hotel. The bus leaves from the temporary car park on the east side of the station, though there's no signage to this effect.
Thankfully, the bus is all branded up and easy to spot, and it arrived at 12:20, just as the connecting train arrived from Glasgow (I aimed for an earlier one just in case). The driver had a cursory glance of tickets then we got underway at 12:32 (13 minutes early!) I assume that the procedure is the driver checks with station staff that everyone's off the train and simply leaves. So, if you arrive into Ayr early and end up going for a wander, aim to be back by 12:20-12:25.
The bus trip was actually quite pleasant. There were only 10 or so of us on board and the road hugged the coast for a good stretch past Girvan. We arrived just past 13:40, just in time to see the inbound sailing parking up. We were dropped off at the small but modern terminal and it was a pretty easy check-in procedure. I was just asked if I had a train ticket, for my name and was handed a boarding pass
We went through security at 14:20ish and boarding at 15:00.
And so, I'm now sat in the bar and we're pulling away from Cairnryan a little early! I can't exactly knock the experience - it's by no means quick but excellent value for what you get.
No ticket checks until past Paisley on the whole trip - was expecting a few quizzical looks from a Belfast ticket but the one conductor who checked wasn't fussed. Everything was nicely on time too, to the extent that I managed to arrive in Edinburgh at 0912 and have a brisk walk over for the 0915 to Glasgow (which actually leaves at 0917).
It was a little confusing at Ayr - as the station is still rather all over the place due to the saga with the old hotel. The bus leaves from the temporary car park on the east side of the station, though there's no signage to this effect.
Thankfully, the bus is all branded up and easy to spot, and it arrived at 12:20, just as the connecting train arrived from Glasgow (I aimed for an earlier one just in case). The driver had a cursory glance of tickets then we got underway at 12:32 (13 minutes early!) I assume that the procedure is the driver checks with station staff that everyone's off the train and simply leaves. So, if you arrive into Ayr early and end up going for a wander, aim to be back by 12:20-12:25.
The bus trip was actually quite pleasant. There were only 10 or so of us on board and the road hugged the coast for a good stretch past Girvan. We arrived just past 13:40, just in time to see the inbound sailing parking up. We were dropped off at the small but modern terminal and it was a pretty easy check-in procedure. I was just asked if I had a train ticket, for my name and was handed a boarding pass
We went through security at 14:20ish and boarding at 15:00.And so, I'm now sat in the bar and we're pulling away from Cairnryan a little early! I can't exactly knock the experience - it's by no means quick but excellent value for what you get.
